How do you say ‘I love you’ in Luxembourgish? What words have been used to express love in Luxembourgish throughout the country’s history? And what are less common expressions?
Alexandre Ecker from the ZLS provided answers to all these questions in a recent conversation with our colleagues from RTL.
In Luxembourgish, the only way to express your love for someone is by using ‘Ech hunn dech gär’ or ‘Ech si frou mat dir’. The first roughly translates to ‘I like you a lot,’ while the second means ‘I am happy with you’.
Does this make the Luxembourgish language cold? Not according to Alexandre Ecker, who is also an editor for the Luxembourg Online Dictionary (LOD). The real question is, why does Luxembourgish have no verb to say ‘I love you’?
Language is not fixed. It is constantly developing, explains Alexandre Ecker.
The Luxembourgish love conundrum is linked to the etymology of the German verb ‘lieben’, he noted. “A few hundred years ago, we would have said ‘lieb haben,’” he explained. The term ‘loved’ was thus linked to the verb ‘to have’, as in Luxembourgish.
However, a single verb has crystallised in German over time, unlike in Luxembourgish. And the verb ‘lieben’ in German is not only used in the field of romance. You can use it to express love for your job just as much as love for a good meal.
Expressions are not weaker than verbs, says the lexicographer. For example, the verb ‘you annoy me’ and the expression ‘you get on my nerves’ are equal in meaning. So it is not as if one cannot express feelings properly when using terms like ‘ech hunn dech gär’ or ‘ech si frou mat dir’.
“When the two right people are together and the mood is right, then these two expressions will certainly do the trick,” argues Ecker.
The evolution of the language is also illustrated by the verbs ‘liben’ and ‘léiwen’. In the Lexicon of Luxembourgish Common Language from 1847, the verb ‘léiwen’ is found alongside ‘gier hunn’.
However, 60 years later, it disappeared and only the famous ‘gär hunn’ and ‘frou sinn’ are to be found. Later, in the Luxembourgish Lexicon from the years 1950 to 1975, the verb reappears and alongside it appears the verb “liben”.
In the Luxembourgish Lexicon, there are also some less common expressions to express one’s love. Alexandre Ecker has selected two of them: ‘een Af un engem gefriess hunn’ (which roughly translates to ‘having eaten a monkey about someone’) and ‘ech kéint dech friessen’ (‘I could eat you’).
Love can also often be compared to fire. “You can describe a person you love by saying ‘dat ass meng Flam’ (‘this is my flame’)”, notes Ecker.
The lexicographer also told us his preferred way of expressing love: “‘Ech hunn dech gär’ is actually the term I had the best experiences with. But from now on I will of course use the expression ‘Ech hunn en Af un dir gefriess’ more often.”
According to a survey carried out by the University of Luxembourg, expressions used to say ‘I love you’ in Luxembourgish differ according to age. ‘Ech si frou mat dir’ is mostly used by older inhabitants, while 95% of young people opt for ‘Ech hunn dech gär’.
‘Ech liben dech’ is meanwhile mostly used by people below the age of 25.
What’s your favourite Luxembourgish love expression? Let us know in the comments below!
